Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Can anyone tell if the Slash's Snakepit CDs are worth buying? and if so, where can I find them new? I can only find used ones. I've heard that they're sort of boring, with a few good songs, but I'd like to hear for myself. Thanks...

No

Good albums overall...Sounds like GNR without AXL...some say its trash, but I think its good, songs like Serial Killer, beggars and hangers (a 20 minute song) are awesome, Snakepit is like ACDC or Rose Tattoo, good hard rock to listen to while driving on your harley davidson  :smoking:

If you want to hear the music for Gn'r's follow up to TSI, get "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere."  Slash is on lead guitar, Gilby plays rhythm, Matt on drums, and Dizzy and Teddy with some keyboards.  Mike Inez from Alice in Chains plays bass and Eric Dover sings.

No, "Beggars and Hangers on" is about six minutes long on the CD.


Anyway, Snakepit CDs are good listens.  Slash's riffs on Ain't Life Grand are incredible, though Rod Jackson's singing positively sucks.

the Snakepit cds are amazing if you like true sleazy rock n roll and amazing guitar playing. Don't listen to those who will tell you it's garbage mostly because they choose to worship Axl and detest the other members of GN'R.

Unbelievable great riffs, Snakepit '95 (5 O'Clock) could have been the greatest GN'R album with Axl doing the vocals and writing some ballads. It's one of my favourite albums of all time!? :yes:

Ain't life grand? is more popular among the fans, although I prefer the first Snakepit. The music is closer to Aerosmith and the classics of the 70s, Rod Jackson is a really talented singer, however he sucks as a lyricist. A great buy, though.? : ok:

Edit: I almost forgot Slash's solos! God bless him for those classics!

Lol

5 o'clock somewhere is just awful and must never be heard again

Ain't life grand is great and i enjoy it much more than Contraband - def worth getting

I have to agree with Izzy.........diehard GNR fans of course are gonna say this album rocked, but for a general music fan it's pure buttrock.  Horrible albums I thought.  The guitar work is decent and the singing is absolutely horrible on both.  BUT if you do decide to try one get 5 oclock somewhere..........ain't life grand is utter crap and the singer rod jackson is painful to listen to.

actually the friends I've played it for who had never paid attention to gnr thought it was great music to blast in the car with the windows rolled down : ok:

Lol

You surely don't play any instrument, do you?

When 5 O'clock was released I showed it to some of my friends. Do you know what they said? (Course not) They said that the album helped them to know who was GN'R: Slash. Although I don't agree with them 'cause GN'R was made by Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy and Steven, the Snakepit albums show that Slash is a fantastic songwriter even without Axl. I understand that some fans are so Axl-obsessed that they are unable to like anything when the music sounds like GN'R and the lead singer doesn't, but 5 O'clock one of the best rock albums ever. Even James LaBrie, singer of progressive rock/metal band Dream Theater rated the album 10/10 and added that he'll surely buy this album, 'cause it's classic Slash from the first note.

Slash really was great on those records. Better than his work on CB for sure but Contraband is just a great record because every member shines. Like Scott's vocals on YGNR & Do it for the kids, Duff's bass on Superhuman and Suckertrain, Dave on Slither, Matt on Illegal and Dirty little thing. It is very balanced unlike Snakepit where it was mostly all Slash.

I like Snakepit '95 alot, it's sounds really raw like AFD and the songs are good

I like Slash on Snakepit '99 but I don't like the rest of the band, they lack energy and Ryan Roxie tries to sound too much like Slash

There's a few good songs on each and then there's some bad ones (for example "Be The Ball", "Doin' Fine", "Monkey Chow", "Ain't Life Grand" come to mind first).



/jarmo

I don't have ain't life grand, but It's five o clock..is awful One of the biggest dissapointments of that year. Even Duff's " Believe in Me" sounded better when I bought it.

BUY them!! Both!
There ain't nobody on this earth who can say I am not a true GNR fan,  BUT,  I like both of SLASH's albums by far more than anything else he ever did.
It's 5 o'clock is an great album IMO. 
It is simply great raw rock'n'roll.
You can't compare it to anything,  it is that pure bles rock (kinda like Black crows but also GNR).
Ain't life grand is the most MATURE piece of music SLASH has ever done.
We all knew he was great musician but he has also proven himself as an A+ lyrics writer here.
Songs like BACK TO THE MOMENT,  SHINE,  LANDSLIDE,  BEEN THERE LATELY,  THE TRUTH,  AIN'T LIFE GRAND,  LIFE'S SWEET DRUG or JUST LIKE ANYTHING are absolutely phantastic pieces of music for everyone who loves and appreciates music.
Not to mention that any of these could be not only on any GNR album but any other bands...
It's 5 o'clock has great tunes like NEITHER CAN I,  LOWER (written about SLASH feeling after hearing Kurt was found dead),  BEGGARS AND HANGERS ON, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE (my favorite one on the album),  TAKE IT AWAY,  BE THE BALL,  TAKE IT AWAY (second fav one on the album).
Go ahead and BUY the album.
You will do yourself good and you won't feel sorry for the money.

ain't life grand I really never listen to much cause it was a little disappointing but 5 oclock is real good.

I think they're great cd's. Ain't life grand is better imo.

Be the ball has some of the most amazing guitar parts I've ever heard

*It's 5 O'clock Somewhere* is better than the 2nd album *Ain't Life Grand*? as it sounds more raw and features better songs. Ain't Life Grand has about 2 maybe 3 ok songs on it. It's 5 O'clock Somewhere has a good 5 or more great songs on it? : ok: and Be the Ball isn't one of them (this song always reminds me of the theme tune to the TV series Hawii 5 O? ;D) and Slash (i think) is singing on this track - not good? ;)

Both albums feature great art work though (something VR lacks ;) )

It's 5 O'clock Somewhere, the cool tracks are: *Neither Can I* - *Dime Store Rock* - *Beggars & Hangers-On* - *I Hate Everybody But You* - *Back and Forth Again*

So, you've heard the opinions how you decide? :)

PS: it seems to me that everyone likes different songs from the albums. I think the damned Be The Ball is one of the best music Slash has ever written and intersting because he wrote the whole lyrics, which are not very deep but funny (compares life to a pinball game).  ;)

It's like other people have said here - there's some good songs and there's some bad songs.
The first Snakepit album sounds very gritty and raw, and on the second album Slash took a little more time with the production, so the songs sound more polished.

Back when they were both released, I (like many others here) was starved for new GN'R music, so this was as close as we got, but listening now I struggle to listen to both albums all the way through.

Basically, if you're a fan of Slash guitar, the albums are more than worth it, if you can get past the cringe-worthy lyrics and singing on some songs.

My fav tracks on each are:
Snakepit 1 - Neither Can I, Dime Store Rock, Beggars & Hangers-On, Good To Be Alive
Snakepit 2 - Shine, Landslide, Serial Killer (which has a killer solo!), Life's Sweet Drug, Speed Parade

The Snakepit Albums took me a while to buy, and I the first time I listened to them I hated them both, because I couldn't get over not having Axl.  However, as I slowly listened to them over months and months I began to like a track here, and a track there, and now years later I consider them both excellent albums.  I prefer Ain't Life Grand to 5 O'Clock Somewhere, because I think Rod Jackson does a much better job with the vocals.  The band is tip top on both albums.  Some of my favorite tracks are:  Be The Ball, Dime Store Rock, Mean Bone, Ain't Life Grand and Speed Parade, but my absolute favorite is Serial Killer, that track is simply better than at least 25% of GNR songs (I know I'm going to get ripped apart for saying that, but ...)

They're definetly worth buying, the second instalment has rod jackson at vocals, and slash plays some killer rock, excellent album :smoking:

no you are not. So is Beggars and Hanger-ons and Back & Forth again has one of Slash's top 3-5 solos ever.
1. November Rain
2. Sweet Child
3. Back & Forth Again
4.Serial Killer

as far as I'm concerned

If you're a fan of Slash then both are worth buying.   5 O' Clock Somwhere is a little bit more Slash indulgenent than Ain't Life Grand.  On the latter i think Slash tries to make it more  of a band, so he steps back a bit.  The lyrics on both make me feel i've somehow gotten dumber for listening to them, but if they were instrumental songs then i think they'd be pretty good. 

put it this way....

5"o clock is extremely uncommercial. A lot of the songs are just jams. Kinda like the blues jams and solos slash did in gnr.

ALG is more like something you would've heard on radio during the early 80's alongside ACDC. It is a lot more polished and fun to listen to but 5o'clock does have some gems.

Slash's Snakepit is what it imply's.... those cd's belong in a Snakepit...  Slash is an amazing guitar player but he can't write lyrics worth shit.... only buy the Snakepit cd's if you are obsessed with Slash's guitar playing or are a hardcore GNR everything person..... but if you are looking for beautiful lyrics and memorable music, I think it got lost somewhere between the years 1987-1993.......

Well then, I'll call my CD storage rack the Snakepit.


He didn't write many lyrics for the Snakepit CDs, only a couple songs on the first one.  None on the second one.


I'm both.    8)

Slash doesn't write lyrics? What are u saying? As far as I know "Be the ball" is the only song he ever wrote lyrics to.

my opinion,

i love the Pit n' i think Aint Life Grand is filth, personally i think they were much better then VR!!!
Its all about the money :-\

5 o clock ROCKS !

Eric Dover sometimes sings like steven tyler... I imagine that album with steven on vocals and just drool  :hihi:

Ain't life grand is good too but a little boring after you listen to it more than few months

 :peace:

Besides Contrabands ballads, they shit all over that album. imo

get em both i have both n LOVE EM!!

If you can get them cheap...get em both or at least 5 o'clock

Monkey Chow, Neither Can I, Beggars & Hangers-On, Dime Store Rock, Shine, Serial Killer kick's ass

Snakepit 95' was neat because it kind of went against everything that was out at the time, obviously against what Axl wanted. I really liked it a lot-the next Snakepit record was just really bad. Neat side projects, but like Axl said, would not have worked for Guns n Roses, but I don't think it makes them bad.

Dime Store Rock,
Soma City Ward
Beggers and Hangers on
and Neither can I. 

Are all fantastic bluesy rock songs imo.  They would make superb Guns records with Axl's imput on the singing and lyrics.
But hey they stand on their own very well imo.

 You can hear a little of the  "Beggers and hangers on " riff being played near the end of the Illusions tour actually.  I have heard it a couple of times.

And the Slash snake logo is fantastic.
 

I absolutely agree... I think Dime Store Rock and Soma City Ward in particular would have made awesome GNR tunes with Axl handling the vocals. I love that first Snakepit CD, it's cruelly underrated.

No doubt, that logo has to be one of the best album covers ever IMO.

Agrred, there are some awesome song son there.  It was just tarnished with some cheesy lyrics and vocals which were not really all bad.

Yes both albums are worth buying. Great rock?n?roll though not near as exiting as GNR. But still good.  : ok:

This thread got me listening to It's 5 O'clock again.
In some ways it's better than I remembered, but the vocals are below par, and as many have said the lyrics aren't great.
Had this been a CD released before GNR you could see a progression, and the guitar playing is superb. But I thought at the time, and still think, the Snakepit CDs were a step backwards.
Contraband is far superior, and the best I've heard in some years, but still can't touch anything the members recorded with GNR.

If Slash had wanted, he could have released both Snakepit albums with famous rock singers guesting on a track here and there, and then it would have been a huge hit seller ! Imagin Steven Tyler on a song or two, Sammy Hagar, Sabastian Bach, maybe Lenny Krawitz, Alice Cooper, Lemmy from Motorhead, the singer from The Black Crowes, Chris Cornell, all of them are buddies of Slash, so he could have done that.. But the music on both albums really rocks, and Slash's guitarplayin' are fucking awsome ! Buy 'em both !!!

I think you just described what I believe a Slash solo album should be like now.. Just a ton of guest stars on vocals. Like Iommi's album.

And I think the fact that Slash has established a comany just to take care of his solo and guest apperances work, makes it a lot more beliavable to have a solo album by Slash with tons of cool singers and musicians on it !!    :peace:

the would be amazing! the next best thing since original Guns and Velvet Revolver!

He had plans to release a Santana-type record with various superstars and different styles of music after the end of Snakepit 2.0, but then two of his buddies called him and they had a gig... and The Project was born. But I think he didn't give up his solo career, so in 3-4 years we'll see that solo album!  :yes:

The problem with Slash having various singers on his solo projects is touring.  Slash had serious touring ambitions for both Snakepit records, especially the second one, so having one vocalist fill in for all those famous ones would not go over well.  From a touring perspective, it would've been suicide to have a number of different vocalists.

yeah good point. slash loves touring

He can do this project when VR takes a break (Weiland also mentioned that he wants to release a solo album).

Well, Santana loves playing live as well, but that diden't stop him did it? At least we would get a really cool album, and some cool videos... Maybe he could do a coupple of gigs, like a MTV thing, with all the stars coming out to jam with him on live TV??

The first Snakepit record has a handful of decent songs on there but Aint Life Grand in my opinion is just horrible, yeah you got some signature Slash riffs going on but the singer is horrible in my opinion, i always leaned more to Izzy , Gilby and Duff's stuff.

They're both great, pick them up.

OK,  you guys who say shit about Rod Jackson must be kidding,  right?
You can't call anyone bad names just cause you don't like him,  unless,  you say IMO.
IMO,  Rod Jackson was the best singer SLASH has ever worked with and I'll repeat,   both guitar playing and the lyrics were the most mature pieces of music SLASH was present on IMO.
(Eric Dover was totally OK too,  both Rod and Eric were better singers than the ones you people named there.)
The music was great and the lyrics were not only deeper,  but free of any no-reason hatereat!
Thanx SLASH for both Snakepit albums! : ok:
(I can't really put one on top of the other one,  yet,  if I had to give it a score,  I would put ALG up by 1%.).

Rod Jackson totally destroyed Ain't Life Grand for me.

Why man? Rod has a good voice, and many of the songs are really great. In the beginning of Serial Killer, his voice sounds like Axl's in the beginning of Estranged if you listen carefully..

I don't know, he just sounded like REAL 80 cheese to me.  Plus I just found him a real poser. I thought the music was cool to serial killer til he opens his mouth. " I just wanna kill"..  terrible.

Rod Jackson souns like a singer from the 70s. He has a really great voice, but I don't find his lyrics meaningful. (I agreee that the 'I just wanna kill' part is terrible... Only one thing is worse on the album: the cars in Speed Parade!  :hihi:)

Slash Snakepit is or was  like a "baby " to Slash. "its five o'clock somewhere" is great but it was "the next" Guns n' Roses Record...so 
But Aint life grand?" is a true Hard Rock Album , if you dont believe me , Just listen to "The Alien "  and  "Speed parade"  those songs makes me remember songs Like Perfect crime  :'(. Its has the power energy and everything a good raw hard rock song needs, Thats what Velvet revolver is missing ...i think of Velvet Revolver as more Radio friendly kinda music. but its ok anyway.  : ok:

So I popped in Ain't Life Grand the other day and loved it.. I actually listened to it twice in a row... I always liked a few songs but thought Rod Jackson ruined it.. Well, I am still not a big fan of Rod but the over all album just sounded way better especially musically.. There were also songs on there that I liked beofre and just forgot about...

i have aint life grand and i love it, but that was gonna cost seriously 50$ at HMV and 3 months wait to order, so u know what i had to do  :-X

save money for three months right?

Fucking LOVE both albums ... I love both singers.

People judge Rod too harshly.  He's fucking talented.  Get some fucking ears people!!!

Great albums.  Buy.

I can't help it i have maybe only listend to it's 5 o'clock somewhere like 5 times, i don't know but it never dies it for me, aint life grand fucking kicks ass and i love that record and rods voice :yes:


(even though this thread should be in ex-members :hihi:)

Ain't life grand  is  one of the best  albums in my collection, which spans well over 1000 albums. 5 O'clock grows on you--at first  I did not like it (like Contraband) but after  a while  it has  some really great tracks. I can just imagine if Neither Can I turned out  to be Guns  tune. I would pay full price for ALG and look for 5 O'clock in a used CD store. or both are available I would imagine at amazon.com.

I've got both, and like both. 

It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere is more akin to the sleaze rock style that I'm sure you're familiar with.

Ain't Life Grand is more soulful.  Some don't like the singing, but I do.  Some very cool tracks.

I like It's Five O' Clock Somewhere a lot, great riffs, hard rocking, kick-ass album. I used to really like Ain't Life Grand until I realized how much Rod Jackson sucks. He's like the enigma of every rock n' roll cliche that ever was.

yeah

lol, what does that mean?

EDIT: post#3000 :yes:

Both albums are great

SPINAL TAP!!!!

yes, i think they are

i love its five o'clock somewhere...never heard the 2nd one :-\

but i still play it form time to time...i thinks its pretty damn good...although eric dover i think tries to sound like axl at times...but he never gets there :hihi:

Indeed, I think Slash chose him 'cause he wanted "it's 5 o' clock somewhere" to be the next GNR record, so wrote the songs with Axl in the back of his mind (not literally) and wanted someone who sounded remotely like him, or had kinda the same timbre to sing the songs.

It's Five O'clock Somewhere - Slash's Snake pit is very good  : ok:

The lead Eric Dover singer reminds me of Axl, and in some ways I think he is better. I donot know how successful his band (Jelly fish) were. but he should have stuck with Slash. Further on down line Duff, Gilby Clarke and Matt Sorum could have joined Slash's Snake Pit in what could have been one of the best bands on earth.



some info:
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere is the debut album by the rock group Slash's Snakepit, released on February 14, 1995 (see 1995 in music). The album went platinum worldwide. The album title came from when Slash wanted a drink in an airport, but bars don't open before 5 PM. A bartender said "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" and the rest is history. Slash originally wrote some of these songs for his old band Guns N' Roses to use for the album which was intended to follow The Spaghetti Incident, but Axl Rose disliked them. Slash then used the songs he had written for the Slash's Snakepit album. The artwork for the album is infact a photograph of a spray-painted wall in a flat which was created by Slash's brother. If you look very closely towards the bottom right of the picture underneath the cigarette, a plug socket can be seen.

I say both Snakepit albums are worth buying if you're into Slash's playing. There's tons of great sleazy rock n' roll on both. The vocals on both are solid. My problem is the lyrics range from mediocre to laughable. At first I couldn't listen to too many Snakepit tracks in a row until I learned to focus on the music and ignore the words.

I agree with some of the lyrics being bad... So I was lsitening to Ain't Life Grand again this weekend and loving it.. It's crazy how I could change my mind about an album like that..  Two songs that I never really paid anttention to are "Just Like Anything" and "Speed Parade".. 1/2 way through Speed Parade it sounds like a straight up Megadeth riff...

I just bought Ain't Life Grand for five bucks yesterday and I love it. I do not get the hatred for Rod Jackson, on certain songs he is not that great but he is very solid and I prefer him right now to a lot of the work by Weiland on Contraband. I love Weiland but a lot of the songs on Ain't Life Grand feel more like Guns songs and are what I would expect from Slash. The cd is very gritty and I can see a lot more of the songs being preformed by Guns than I can with VR songs being preformed by Guns. I love Slash either way and I think the album is cool and a nicely done side project. If you can get the cd for 5 bucks like I did I would highly recomend it to anybody.

Well VR isn't G N R. You can't expect them to make that kind of music. They have their own thing going on.

5 oclock somewhere is painful to listen to.. aint life grand is pretty cool though

Definitely NOT worth buying.

Depends, if you want a definitive collection of everything to do with GNR, then maybe you should buy them.

To me the first album is magical....the second has some good songs but I dont like it as much...

maybe if you can find them cheap used. i rarely listen anymore...

The first one (It's Five o'clock somewhere) is my favorite, but both are great !

In the last few years, I've been listening more often to "It's Five o'clock somewhere" than the UYI albums. It's really a great album.